Of Nobles and Crows' Feathers
by VeryCleverPenName
Summary: "String, Unstring" renamed. The Resistance has made themselves known to the whole of Edelstein, stirring the country into rebellion. When Watchman Hal Glasvind is confronted by his own compatriots, he questions his decision of siding with the Black Wings.
1. Chapter 1

**Note to all readers: I decided to create two languages for this story, and there'll always be English to go with it. It won't occur each time there is dialogue, but rather it will only be present a few times. Most of the dialogue will be in English, for your convenience (even though all characters here don't speak it. They don't even use the same alphabet. Ha!)**

**Once again, you will notice my tendency to create classes for my Maple fanfics... and again, I will have to warn you of mild-to-strong language.**

**Pop your popcorn, sit back, read, and enjoy.**

/=======1===============/

Hal Glasvind lay peacefully on a bench in Edelstein Park. He was having another nightly read at his favorite spot. It was where the moon, when full, would shine directly over the pond late at night, dispensing its elegant light to the flowers at water's edge. The wind was pleasant tonight, too, and he enjoyed it blowing through his brown hair.

Hal made his signature odd yawn as he closed the hard cover. Rising from the bench, he realized he had forgotten to slip the bookmarker into the page. _Aww fudgepockets_, he thought, but he brushed it off and decided he'll just turn the pages again the next day.

As he headed back to Edelstein City, a pack of fourteen Resistance members sprung from the bushes. All of them had eyes mad with murder, their weapons clutched with battle-ready enthusiasm. Hal remained unfazed, however. Their lack of tactical organization and mediocre equipment told him they were an inexperienced bunch. Perhaps just a small group of cocky new members looking to score easy on the ranks; a lone Black Wings Watchman would look tantalizing to subdue.

"Hende uf!" one of them ordered, aiming his crossbow at Hal's head. "Vir habn dras ansirclen!" _Hands up! We have you surrounded!_

Hal did nothing. The Black Wings Watchman merely tipped his hat down over his eyes.

"Hende uf! Is givt cainen fluctveg!" he once again bellowed. _There is no escape!_

"Make it easy and shoot me," Hal told him in the language. The Wild Hunter made a self content smile at the remark and pulled the trigger. The explosive-tipped bolt flew, but it landed on a fellow Wild Hunter's head at the other side of the circle. It detonated.

"Thirteen to go." Hal now wore that same self-contented smile. He had teleported a few feet to the left, dodging the bolt just in time. "You can't even aim right, and you try to shoot me? That's like giving a pencil to an illiterate!" The Resistance bunch flinched, cast their dark auras and hardened their aims.

A young Battle Mage, perhaps sixteen or seventeen it looked to Hal, immobilized him with her Dark Chain. The other mages did the same. Wild Hunters commanded each other _shoot! shoot!_ and hastily squeezed their triggers, hoping that the Black Wings Watchman could not try any other sleazy tricks on them. Their hopes were savaged.

In place of Hal was a human-shaped turnip, peppered with craters and burnt spots from their Ricochets. They all looked in disbelief. Hal then rose unscathed from under the chains.

"Shit!" remarked a mage.

"'Shit!' is right!" quipped Hal. "What the hell did you think you were doing in the first place? The worst you could do is spoil the book for me!" He gave them another of the smiles and proceeded to throw seeds at their feet. Roots ingrained and vines sprouted, coiling themselves around the newbie bunch. Jaguars made their last roars before becoming entangled in their entirety. This time, they were immobilized.

Before he did anything further, he asked, "Which of you in this collection joined the Resistance the earliest?"

"I did!" proudly answered a hunter, his sights still set on Hal. "I've been part of the Resistance for two months! The Black Wings don't belong here! We won't let ourselves be puppeted by your self-righteous organization! To hell with the Black Mage!"

"Funny," Hal said, ignoring his slander of the Master. "You see, I'm actually a Puppeteer. I'm sure you're familiar with my boss, Francis. What a genius. Well, anyways, congratulations," he commanded the vines to cover him like a cocoon. "I'm sparing _your_ life."

Upon sensing their fates about to come to a close, the Wild Hunters shot again. The bolts hit home, but it was another turnip. The Watchman stood a few feet from the decoy. In his hand, a Kage staff metamorphosed into a cross-shaped handle. Strings hung from its four corners and ended at a turnip on the ground. In seconds, it became humanoid in form, complete with a handsomely carved face and sported clothing made of leaves. Spikes rose from the marionette's knuckles, implication of its specialty.

"Everyone, meet Duke, my Brawler marionette."

"Shoot them! Shoot them" the others desperately insisted, but all they could do is try. Both Hal and his marionette evaded explosive bolts and dark chains. The newbie bunch didn't even know which of the two to strike down first. Being stuck to the ground, there was little else they could do. One by one, the puppet and the puppeteer eliminated them. It was over before he knew it. As Hal looked over his newly increased kill count, he noticed that only twelve bodies were sprawled on the pavement. One escaped somehow, maybe while he was taking out the rest. _Ah well_, he thought to himself. The cocooned Wild Hunter mumbled incomprehendly under the vines.

"We're going to have a chat," Hal told him. "There are many things about the Resistance that the Black Wings could learn from you. Let's take him to the mines, Duke." Duke separated the hunter from the Jaguar, ripping some vines which grew back to cover the two bodies. The marionette then hoisted the captive up on the shoulder and proceeded walking.

Hal stood behind for a few moments, glancing back at the twelve lives he had just extinguished. He didn't know what to think. _Just my job_, he told himself. Deep inside, however, he was uncertain of which side was right to take. He himself was Edelstinian, after all; he spoke the language with native fluency.

As he left Edelstein Park, the million-meso question hit him: _Why exactly did we resurrect the Black Mage?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Ah, finally! The second chapter! It took me a while to get this done, primarily because of other hobbies I do in my free time, but also because I also do a lot of nonfanfiction writing.**

**Anyhow ... **

**In this chapter, I reveal my constructed language Vadåsian, spoken by the Black Wings. A tip on identifying between the two languages of this fanfic: Vadåsian has umlauts (**_**ü**_**) and diaritical marks (**_**å**_**), and Edelstinian does not. I wanted the Black Wings' language to look and sound sophisticated.**

**Trivia: "Edelstein," when read as a German word, means "Noble stone," from Edel [noble] and Stein [stone]. German class helped!**

/==========2================/

"No, I did not sanction any missions in the past few hours. Why?" Claudine pushed her glasses back against her nose and continued with her paperwork. Brighton stood sternly before her desk, and he wore an equally stern face. Beside him stood Belle.

"Fourteen new Resistance members set out to capture a high-ranking Black Wings Watchman at Edelstein Park."

Claudine blinked, and she stopped the pen in its place. "Tell them not to leave Headquarters."

"That was an hour ago."

"Vas havt gehapt?" _What happened? _There was urgency in her voice. She felt something had gone wrong, and she was damn sure she was right.

"Twelve are dead, one is missing, and the last..." Brighton turned to Belle. The policewoman nodded before continuing what he started.

"The last was fortunate that one of my Bogunschutern [_Wild Hunters_] happened to be in the area. She's shaken, but she's safe."

Claudine gave a sigh of relief, thankful to hear that, at least, there was one that survived a slaughter. Remembering that a dozen are dead, she sunk. She hoped the last one will be alright.

"The missing man. Who is he? What happened to him?"

There was silence. Her subordinates hesitated. Tension built up in the atmosphere. Belle gulped, and after another few moments, she spoke.

"It pains me to say that the Resistance may be at risk with his disappearance. Should he be captured, we may lose every chance we have. If he isn't -"

"_Belle_," urged Claudine. Sweat started to roll down her face.

"The missing man," Belle started, "is..." And she told her superior. The color was drained from Claudine's face.

_The Resistance is in danger_.

/=================================/

It was early morning, and the sun had only begun to shine on the Edelstinian countryside. In the windy plains, just north of the city, the lights of a mansion had been on since the previous day's dusk. Wind turbines surrounded the architectural majesty, which was styled much like Orbis' structures; winged designs, pinkish roofs, and marble pillars and walls that effectively gave it the effect of glowing when the sun was bright. Apart from the maids that gave the mansion its routine cleanings, the person who had liberty of living there was Hal Glasvind.

"Finished." After a few stretches and a sip from his cup of beloved coffee, the Puppeteer Watchman closed the book. _Another sappy love story_, he thought, _but a damn good one_. He rose from his sofa and kindly asked one of his maids to return the book to its place, a shelf three storeys up.

It was a vast library. In fact, it was even a laboratory, harboring various alchemical flasks and instruments. It all belonged to his great grandfather, a wealthy gentleman from Orbis and a graduate from the University of Zenumistry in Magatia. Hal himself wasn't nearly as intelligent as his ancestor, although he strived to be. He started day dreaming about meeting the old man-the very dead old man-until his thoughts were scrambled by a couple of knocks. The door then opened.

"Amarrei acåm, måsuletto Glasvind," said an elegant voice. _Good morrning, Sir Glasvind. _That was Seleina Bayne, Hal's closest friend, approaching from the doorway. Her beautiful red hair bounced with each step.

"Feminåtte Seleina! Cui aler ogen." _Lady Seleina! It's very early._ Hal met her halfway and took her hand to give it a friendly welcoming kiss. She was especially lovely today, donning the Black Wings' mage cloak that elegantly covered her in a royal purple. Hal knew he would easily fall for her, but he hadn't yet. "Cui ïu zü?" _How are you? _

"Cü våll. [_very well_]. I see you spent the entire night reading again."

"Oh did I? How do you know I wasn't just having coffee with some ladies?" Hal gave a wink to a nearby maid, and she blushed before hurrying off. Seleina was quick to change the subject.

"Do you have any idea who exactly it was that you captured?" She tried her best to sound stern, but she couldn't hide her excitement well.

"You can tell me and I'll know exactly who it was."

"Take a guess. I'll give you three chances."

"Just tell me. That bloke took me half a brain to seal up."

"I can't just tell you! That would kill the fun. And that 'bloke' happens to be someone of high importance." Her mouth stretched into a playful grin, and her eyes started dancing. "I'll give you a kiss if you guess correctly."

Hal accepted her game.

"Hmm ... the blimp pilot."

"No."

"The vendor."

"No."

"The streetsweeper."

"No."

"Who, then?"

"Rickhart Kreutz."

"Rickhart? Edelstein City's best baker?"

"The very same!"

"What's so special about a baker? He made the Master brownies for his rebirthday?"

"Hal!" Seleina's face seemed to laugh at the Puppeteer. She shook his shoulders as if to snap him out of a trance. "Rickhart Kreutz is Headmaster Ferdi's son! And Ferdi leads the Resistance!"

"You're lying. You're _lying_!" Hal's excitement shot through the roof. He smiled stupid, and was dumbfounded at the luck of the nature of his capture.

"I'm _not_ lying!" Seleina bear-hugged the Puppeteer and he spun her around. They looked like a couple that just won a lottery. "Thanks to his information, we know everything about the Resistance! _Everything_! Their coded language, their hideouts, their commanders, suppliers - _everything_! Edelstein will be ours, uncontested!"


End file.
